The project is based on the idea that institutions of higher education should play a more active role in on-going social change. The researchers hope to develop teaching materials and methods that will promote a better understanding of forced displacement in Europe today, and thereby prevent outbreaks of racism and xenophobia.
The EU-funded project is led by the University of Murcia, Spain, and the other participating institutions are, in addition to Lund University, the universities of Salerno, Italy and Lisbon, Portugal.
“It is interesting that these particular countries are involved in the project. They have played different roles in the on-going migration crisis. Portugal and Spain, for example, have barely received any refugees,” says Norma Montesino, who heads the project at the School of Social Work.
In Lund, the first phase will include a written survey and group interviews with social work students. The researchers want to find out more about what young students think of how society has managed the reception of refugees, and any ideas they have related to that.
“Our subproject here in Lund will only focus on social work education while the other countries are also looking at high school and university programmes. It is important to examine what students have to contribute. Several of our students have experience of working with newly arrived refugees and have their own concerns about the content of their education,” says Norma Montesino.
In June 2017, the researchers at the School of Social Work will publish their first interim report and next year all the European participants will gather for a meeting in Lund. The project runs through August 2019.
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